Find out how popular the last name Martínez Cruz is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Martínez Cruz.

Martínez Cruz, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Martínez Cruz surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Martínez Cruz in America

Martínez Cruz is the 32994th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Martínez Cruz surname appeared 694 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Martínez Cruz.

We can also compare 2010 data for Martínez Cruz to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Martínez Cruz

The surname MARTINEZCRUZ is a combination of two Spanish surnames, Martinez and Cruz. It likely originated in Spain during the medieval period, when the practice of using two surnames became common.

Martinez is a patronymic surname derived from the given name Martin, which is derived from the Latin name Martinus, meaning "belonging to Mars," the Roman god of war. The name Martin was popularized by the 4th-century saint, Martin of Tours. Cruz, on the other hand, is a topographic surname referring to a cross or crossroads.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Martinez can be found in the 12th-century Codex Calixtinus, a medieval manuscript containing information on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. In this document, a certain Petrus Martinez is mentioned as a resident of the town of Ponferrada in the province of León.

During the Reconquista, the period when the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula fought to reclaim territory from the Moors, many individuals bearing the surname Martinez participated in military campaigns. For instance, a knight named Rodrigo Martinez de Deza fought alongside King Alfonso VIII of Castile in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212.

The surname Cruz also has a long history in Spain, with notable bearers such as Pedro de la Cruz, a 16th-century Spanish explorer who accompanied Hernán Cortés during the conquest of Mexico. Another individual with this surname was Juana Inés de la Cruz, a 17th-century Mexican nun renowned for her poetry and scholarly writings.

As for the combined surname MARTINEZCRUZ, one of the earliest recorded individuals was Diego Martínez de la Cruz, a 16th-century Spanish soldier and explorer who participated in the conquest of present-day Mexico and Guatemala. Another notable bearer was Juan Martínez de la Cruz, a 17th-century Spanish painter known for his works depicting religious subjects.

In the 19th century, José Martínez-Cruz, a Spanish politician and jurist, served as the Minister of Justice and Interior during the reign of Queen Isabella II. Additionally, Manuel Martínez-Cruz, a 20th-century Spanish architect, was responsible for the design of several notable buildings in Madrid.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Martínez Cruz

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Martínez Cruz.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Martínez Cruz was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Martínez Cruz has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Martínez Cruz was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Martínez Cruz, please contact us.

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